Mute Newt?

He was the Speaker of the House when the Republicans controlled Congress in the mid 90's.  He crafted the Contract with America. He is handily an intelligent, albeit direct and politically incorrect candidate.  His platform is generally fiscally conservative and socially moderate - I did say generally.  Yet, his party is throwing him, head-first, into the political shredder.  Instead, the GOP is pushing to place Mitt Romney on the ballot against Obama in the general election.  What happened to the one time GOP hero that would cause the GOP establishment to turn their back on the Newt, instead opting for a known fiscal and social moderate such as Romney?

The answer is simple - all of the above.  In this day of oversensitivity and political correctness, there is no place for a politician like Newt.  The GOP is certain that in a contest between Newt and Obama, the GOP does not stand a chance.  Frankly, I don't believe the GOP has a chance in a contest between Romney and Obama either.  Most people looking for change will see Romney as being too close to Obama and decide they would rather stay with the devil they know. 

The only hope for our nation is to have a radical shift.  While I am not convinced that either Romney nor Gingrich will bring about the shift we need, I do believe that Newt will create a greater shift than Romney.  As for his personality?  Newt has a questionable past, to say the least. I am not comfortable with the way he has conducted himself with respect to his relationships, but I also do not know the entire story and more importantly, who am I to judge how he and his partner's conducted their private business.  I can have my opinion, but it is only my opinion based on what we are told in the media.  I judge the candidate based on his/her platform, what they say and more importantly, what they have done.

Newt states that poor people should become janitors in schools and he is labeled a racist.  I am caucasion, grew up in a "poor" household which did not collect aid.  To earn money for clothes, I worked as a janitor assistant in the high school during school vacations.  I am not ashamed nor offended by Newt's comments.  In fact, I learned at 14 years old that hard work built character.  What's more, I did not get into trouble, did not take drugs and never had to dodge bullets.  Because of my the decisions I made early in life, I managed to work for 30 years before I ever experienced what it was like to be unemployed.  Even after being unemployed for the first time in my life, I still worked part-time at a much lower pay rate because it was the thing to do.  Fortunately, after 8 months, I returned to work full time in a career position.

Newt talks about stopping spending in government. Again, we blast him for taking food from the very young and the very old, but he did not say this.  He is only saying that out of control spending must end in government - we cannot spend what we do not have.  What is wrong with this statement?  My checkbook runs out of money, I cannot spend anymore.  There is nothing magical here, it is simple arithmetic.  Newt can promise a chicken in every pot and a Porsche in every driveway.  This may make the voters feel good, but it will not happen, so what is the point?  Remember back to the day Obama was elected when people celebrated in the streets and made statements about how they would not have to pay for there houses now because Obama was the President?  Well, they were partially correct, which is why banks are now foreclosing on millions of homes.

At the end of the day, a candidate can promise anything and throughout history they have.  In 2012, America in the condition it is in, needs to wake up and face reality.  Newt is giving us a tiny reality check with his candor.  Granted, he is a long time politician and far from honorable, but among the people we have to choose from, I believe he is sprinkling less sugar than the others.  As a party, the GOP should think about the nation and back the candidate who will do the most and be the best for the nation.  As citizens, we need to understand that we will have to take our medicine - today, tomorrow or a month from tomorrow.  We can keep dreaming and vote for the candidate who promises to make those dreams come true, making the cure much worse down the road or we can start treating the problem now by voting for the candidate who will begin to turn things around.  It all rests on whether you want to enjoy today and pay dearly tomorrow or pay less today and look forward to a much brighter tomorrow.